Huawei: Our focus is the infrastructure

Huawei exec claims that Chinese vendor has no interest in moving up to application layer

Huawei's Zhang: We will not touch the application layer, especially the service application layer

Huawei has no plans to delve into the application layer of the network, and will only continue to focus on the infrastructure level, according to Patrick Zheng, president of marketing and solutions, Huawei.

Speaking to ITP.net at the CeBIT trade fair in Germany, Zheng said that Huawei's aim is to integrate its infrastructure products with partner's offerings, rather than to move up the stack into the application layer itself.

"We will not touch the application layer, especially the service application layer," he said. "We will let our partners do this, because our partners know more about this industry. Our focus is on the infrastructure."

Huawei used CeBIT this week to announce a number of new partnerships aimed at combining its networking products with software-based products from other vendors. The most publicised of these was a partnership agreement with SAP, which will see the two companies create a co-innovation lab focused on internet of things (IoT) technologies.

This is just one of four strategic alliances that Huawei has with other vendors. The Chinese IT giant also has more than 300 solution partners and 1,200 service partners, whereby each party's products can be integrated easily with each other.

Despite promising that Huawei will not enter the application layer of the network, however, he said that the vendor was indeed creating its own software and operating systems designed to make better use of big data. That said, he explained that these efforts would not affect the partnerships that the company has already entered into.

He added that Huawei recognised the need for more fully formed solutions that address business challenges. He said that infrastructure products only go so far in this regard, and that Huawei needed partners to help solve CIOs' challenges.

"One of the biggest challenges facing CIOs is how to use technology to solve the problems of the business," he said.

"New technologies are growing very quickly, but the technology itself is not enough. The point is how to use technology to the benefit of the industry and so solve the problems of the industry. When we solve these problems, we need an open ecosystem, so Huawei is eager to cooperate with partners in the industry."